Clickers

Clickers

Sometimes it is hard to tell if students are getting it. It is not always possible to tell what they comprehend from the lesson by just looking at them. One way technology has addressed this issue is with clickers.

Not unlike the text voting that happens for reality TV talent contests, clickers are an interactive personal response system that allows teachers to receive instant feedback from their students at any point during the lesson.

Using them, teachers may conduct a formal or informal quiz over the day's content, have students vote for something, create a graph or chart of opinions or other data, pre-test students before a topic is introduced and more. Responses can be shown on an LCD screen or even live within a PowerPoint.

The use of clickers allows teachers to fine-tune their lessons in midstream. And student engagement is through the roof because all students are answering questions instead of the standard one-at-a-time approach. Check with your library or other teachers to see if someone has a set of clickers available.